Yes, this happens in SF. Some people inherited or built their house, owe nothing on it, and want to sell it onward to another family (not an investor, REIT, etc

Yes, this happens in SF. Some people inherited or built their house, owe nothing on it, and want to sell it onward to another family (not an investor, REIT, etc). One of our friends bought a house this way - off market. Some people also don't do offer dates so they accept the first good offer that comes along - we just bought a house in SF this way for 50k over asking. The sellers were moving across the country, had lots of equity, so their concern was getting the sale wrapped up ASAP. FWIW our realtor was also going to show us an off-market property from a friend who renovated houses. This friend is self-funded so his concern is getting a good return even before the reno is complete so he can buy the next fixer-upper. I assume this is because he can't control when those houses come up for sale so he needs to buy them when they're available. That can present cash flow and financing problems for a small operator.